This invention relates generally to the field of resource recycling and more specifically to a mobile device for recovery and on site storage of used cooking oil. There are numerous business establishments, in example restaurants, hospitals, assisted living facilities, schools, nursing homes, which must provide preparation and serving of food. Such institutions invariably make use of deep fat fryers to satisfy the demands of their customers for particular types of food.
Deep fat fryers utilize cooking oil which is heated in vats ranging in size from a few cups to hundreds of gallons. Such fryers are very effective but their usage does give occasion to serious inconveniences. In example, the cooking oil quality in the fryers must be constantly monitored and when it is no longer usable, must be removed, replaced, and disposed of. Typically, when a fryer is to be emptied, the cooking oil must be allowed to cool down from its maximum temperature, usually approximately 350° F., to a temperature that would not be harmful to one performing the removal task. In the case of larger fryers, this cooling can take up to twelve hours, during which time the fryer is out of service. Most fryers comprise means to remove spent cooking oil such as drains or pumps which pump cooking oil out of the vats through conduits and into a vessel. Said vessel is then carried to a storage bin, generally located outside the building housing the facility, and deposited therein. The process typically requires actions on the part of the employee performing the cooking oil removal and transfer to storage bin task which expose him to possible and very probable contact with the cooking oil. In example, the cooking oil may splash, the cooking oil draining out of a fryer may fall on the employee, the employee may accidentally misdirect a stream of cooking oil pumped out of a fryer through a hose so that it falls on himself or someone else. Further, the external location of the storage bin requires the employee to exit the building which he will invariably take advantage of to loiter.
Then, once the cooking oil is removed from the fryer vat, any residue of cooking oil and/or organic remnants remaining in the bottom of said vat must be removed. If the vat is not sufficiently cleaned of such dregs, the new replacement cooking oil may be contaminated resulting in poor food quality and reduced life span of the cooking oil. Such residue will also cause uneven heating of the cooking oil and resultant improper cooking.
The whole process, accomplished with extant technology, tends to be very messy and facets of it such as cleaning out residue can be difficult. Also, the external storage bins tend to be very unsanitary and unsightly as cooking oil deposited therein tends to be spilt.
Now that modern technological advances have rendered used cooking oil a valuable commodity as a base for fuel for internal combustion engines, sale of used cooking oil can be of significant financial benefit to fat fryer operators. It is therefore to their advantage to store used cooking oil and efficiently transfer the cooking oil to a buyer who generally transfers the cooking oil to a tank truck.
The instant art provides a means to safely remove cooking oil from a fryer without having to wait for the cooking oil to cool, provides a means of storage which is movable from the collection point at the fryer to an out of the way place within a building and is movable outside the building to a disposal tank truck. This removal of the storage device can be performed by the driver of the truck so that employees are free for other tasks.
The instant art also provides means to store and readily access implements to remove dregs from the vat, such implements as vacuum cleaner, cleansing pads, power polishers, brushes, gloves, etc.